Team17 has announced 32-player, real-time battle royal Worms Rumble for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC (Steam). It will launch in late 2020.
Sign-ups for the PC beta are available now here. The first hands-on will run from July 15 at 4:00 a.m. PT / 7:00 a.m. ET to July 20 at 12:00 a.m. PT / 3:00 a.m. ET.
Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:
About
Worms Rumble is Worms like you’ve never played it before, with intense, real-time, arena-based 32-player cross-platform combat. Get ready to rumble in Deathmatch or Last Worm Standing modes where you’re only ever a Holy Hand Grenade away from death!
Use a variety of fan-favorite weapons like the Bazooka and Shotgun plus all-new additions to the armory to bring the pain to your invertebrate opponents as you climb the ranks. Customize your worm, take part in challenges and seasonal events and experiment with new ways to play in The Lab. This is Worms, reinvented.
Key Features
- The First Real Time Worms! – You won’t find any turn-based combat in Worms Rumble. Every round is in REAL TIME! If your enemy is raining fire upon you, give them heck right back!
- 32-Player Cross-Platform Multiplayer – Get ready to rumble online, across console and PC. With Deathmatch and Last Worm Standing solo and squad battle royale modes available at launch!
- Classic Weapons with New Ways to Play – Arm yourself with new and returning fan-favorite weapons! With classics like the Bazooka, Shotgun and Holy Hand-grenade to use at your disposal!
- Events, Challenges, and “The Lab” – Take part in seasonal events, daily challenges and community collaborations for additional XP and rewards, and experiment with new gameplay mechanics and weapons in The Lab.
- Player Customizations – Earn XP and in-game currency to unlock and purchase weapon skins, outfits, accessories and emotes! Mix and match to create your own personal style on the battlefield.
And here are some additional details, via the PlayStation Blog:
Worms in Real-Time
So why real-time? We of course love the turn-based versions of Worms and it’s what we’ve done for so many years. Working on Worms W.M.D was an absolute blast and we’re really proud of it. But we’ve always wanted to push the envelope that little bit further and scratch that “what-if” itch. Sure, we’ve done spins offs of Worms before, but we wanted to go all out and see if we could pull off a real-time version of Worms.
We started prototyping Worms Rumble a couple of years ago with just a small team, and what they came up with in such a short space of time really piqued our interest and made us pretty excited for what we could do. We then started to hold internal usability sessions to get the feeling from the whole studio on how the game felt to play. Did it still feel like Worms? Was the fun factor there? Are we crazy to even try this? The results we got from the team were very encouraging, and straight away we saw that it had that “one more game” appeal. The feedback during the prototype phase was invaluable, as it then pushed us on to look at where we could take this.
Keep Rolling, Rolling!
Because of the real-time nature of the Worms Rumble, we had to look at how to change the movements of the worm. Normally you’d see the worms crawl along at a slow pace, with the occasional jump to traverse around the landscape, but with Worms Rumble, we’ve sped things up significantly. Not only will the worm move faster, you’ll now be able to roll around the arenas at high speed, perform wall jumps to traverse at pace to get to higher ground and away from danger, and dodge those “incoming” bazooka shells and grenades.
It took a lot of balancing to get this feeling just right whilst making sure it felt fair for all players. You won’t be able to continually roll around the level, or hang out on your favourite piece of wall, as our little annelid friends now have stamina which will drain as you roll or wall jump. It’s only when you slow down that your stamina bar will recharge and leave you more susceptible to incoming fire! With great power… sorry. Moving on!
Cross-Play
You’ve been asking for it, and we’ve finally done it. We can confirm that Worms Rumble will support cross-platform multiplayer! We’ll be bringing you a 32-player online experience like you’ve never seen before in a Worms game. The arenas that have been built by the team will see you battle it out inside some of the worms’ favorite places to hang out. Take Missile Mall for example, a shopping mall that sits above an underground rocket silo, there’s plenty of open space to cause carnage, and small air vents to sneak around in. A well-placed Sheep or Banana Bomb can spell Game Over!
Worms Rumble will be released with three game modes. Deathmatch, Last Worm Standing, and Last Squad Standing. Deathmatch does exactly what it says on the tin. This is 32 players battling it out to see who can get the most eliminations before time runs out, and will be the best game mode for new players to get to grips with Worms Rumble, learn the weapons and utilities and hone those skills before going toe-to-toe with the more experienced players.
Last Worm Standing
In Last Worm Standing, it will be 32 players going up against each other once again, only this time, once you’ve been downed, you’re out! But don’t worry, you’ll be able to spectate the action afterwards and you can check out the other players, or, jump straight into another match if you’re eager to get back into the action.
Last Squad Standing will see ten teams of three players battle it out to be crowned champions of the arena! You’ll be able to play with your friends on other platforms and battle it out with others who dare to challenge you. We have introduced a revive mechanic into the squads mode, so that if you ever get downed by a rival, your team members will be able to bring you back into the game. As with Last Worm Standing, once you’re out, you’re out. This mode is all about teamwork! Work together, and you’ll have a better chance to succeed and be the squad to beat!
In both Last Worm Standing and Last Squad Standing, not only will you have your enemies to fight off, but the restricted zones will play a big part in the outcome of the battle. Linger too long in one of them, and you’ll start losing health until you move into another. The restricted zones won’t always start or finish in the same location, so you’ll need to keep an eye on the warnings when they appear and high tail it out of there to a safe location.
Customizations
Worms games and customisation go hand in hand, so we are of course bringing them back for Worms Rumble. How could we not!? You’ll be able to add some really cool items such as headwear and facewear, and we’ve also added a few extras in this time, including awesome weapon skins, outfits and emotes! Unlock more and more swag as you play and add your own personal flair to your invertebrate avatar!
Watch the announcement trailer below. View the first screenshots at the gallery.
